Body shamed at work

[Onlyme100]

I've lost weight through no choice of my own...just due to stress in the half term hols. I went to work and a colleague looked me up and down and said "your shrinking" and looked at me as if to say how pathetic. She repeated this a few times and I felt humiliated in front of the others. Info...I'm a 10 normally and now a size 8.5. How do you react to a comment like that? I didn't know what to say... My brain doesn't think fast enough. Need advice incase it happens again....thankyou

I had this with an ex friend, she used to go on about how skinny my legs were after I'd lost my baby weight said baby was 6 at the time. The annoying thing was I wasn't even that small, a size 12 so just normal really.

The thing was she just couldn't/didn't want to shift hers so thought the best way to make herself feel better was to be nasty to me.

I wish I had the balls to say to her at the time, they're not skinny but compared to yours they are.

Looking back on it people would say I should've been flattered but she was always so nasty and sarcastic. I don't see her now, she's on my long 'avoid at all costs' list!

Jeez, it just sounds like a passing throwaway office comment. You lot sound like really hard work frankly....

Lol sorry jeez, I posted that before you have posted your comment. Now it look so PERSONAL...

Something I used to do many years ago, whenever anyone made a personal comment was to respond with, "Thankyou!" and a wide smile. Every time. People got bored quickly by my lack of being upset.
Alternatively, to "You're shrinking" you could say "along with your manners."

Some of the suggested responses are incredibly rude and offensive. Like using a bulldozer to crack a walnut.

Yes, if you'd commented on how fat someone was you'd have been hauled before HR. Because fat is not universally accepted as attractive, and thin is. It's really hard to see how someone could be upset about being told that they're slim, or thin, or skinny. Even if it's said with jealousy, it's a compliment.

I do understand that it may not be welcome, that you may be trying to gain weight, that it might be a result of stress or illness, but the person saying doesn't know that and is making a flattering observation, they think.

IMO it's like someone saying your hair looks thick or your eyes are a lovely shade of blue and you bark something back about how their hair is shit and they've got pig eyes. To me, it sounds like people trying to get offended, or at least trying really hard to misunderstand.

I think people should stop commenting on other people's bodies. People clearly don't like it. A friend of mine lost a lot of weight recently and it was on the tip of my tongue to say 'you've lost weight' and then I just stopped myself...I just try not to comment on people's appearance anymore apart from to say 'you're looking great' or other such general comments.

I know what you mean though OP. A lady I work with, who seems to shoots subtle digs, commented A LOT when I lost about a stone in weight. She said things like, 'you've lost so much weight...I mean, compared to last year...' Such a back-handed compliment and made me feel like sh*t. It's always jealousy when it comes to women. I know. I mean, when I've seen a friend who has lost weight, it does make me think I should do the same.

Although, I really agree with people on this thread saying to just let it slide...and maybe we need to learn to avoid such people more. I, for one, have a tendency to be overly nice to everyone and it's something that's been pointed out to me. So, I think I might focus more on the kinder folk in the workplace!

Best of luck.